Poland to quit $9.2B precautionary IMF credit line: Ministry

WARSAW - 15 October 2017: Poland will quit a precautionary Flexible Credit Line (FCL) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) worth $9.2 billion, the country’s Finance Ministry said on Saturday.

“We are resigning from a $9.2 billion credit line from the IMF,” the Finance Ministry said on Twitter, quoting Finance Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. “The Polish economy is in such a good situation that we can do it.”

Poland’s state budget posted a record surplus of 4.9 billion zloty ($1.36 billion) for the period from January to August, thanks to, among other things, a steep rise in revenue from the value-added tax as economic growth has neared 4 percent.

“I have taken the decision to quit the FCL after an analysis of tax data, macroeconomic parameters, assessment of our budget stability and currency reserves,” the ministry said quoting Morawiecki.

In January, the Executive Board of the IMF approved a two-year arrangement for Poland under the Flexible Credit Line (FCL) with access in an amount equivalent to SDR 6.5 billion, worth about 8.2 billion euros at that time.

It was not immediately clear whether Poland would let the current FCL agreement expire or withdraw beforehand.

Poland has since 2009 had a FCL agreement in place to use at times of crisis, but has never drawn on the funds. In December 2016, Poland asked the IMF to halve the value of the FCL.